


Home is Wherever You Are

by orphan_account



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Angst, First Kisses, Fluff, It's angsty at the beginning but dissolves into fluff, M/M, This is how I wanted root a to end, This is what would have happened if someone got Hide to a damn hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-20 06:33:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3640341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide wakes up in a hospital alone after the Anteiku incident. Kaneki comes to visit late at night and the two talk, emotions tumble out and feelings get revealed.</p>
<p>A.K.A the alternate ending of root a where everyone is happy and Hide isn't ambiguously DEAD (I refuse to fully believe he is), but is SAFE and ALIVE.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Wherever You Are

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look I made a fan fiction! To be honest this is my first fan fiction in YEARS. I am serious I think the last time I made a fan fiction was like in 2007?? IDK it was a long time ago. Anyway after seeing the end of root a and seeing the ending my sunshine child got I was immediately compelled to write a fan fiction for my babies, one where they end up happy and not sad. Screw that Anime ending it was awful, how could you do that??
> 
> I hope I managed to get my babies in character, I'm sorry if they are not, like I mentioned it's been so long since I've written a fan fiction, so I am still a little rusty. Enjoy!!

Hide grunts and opens his eyes. All around him is darkness.

' _Where am I_?' Hide thinks as he tries to collect his bearing. He feels groggy like he just woke up from a ten-hour nap. His body also aches, especially his side.

Hide takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He does his best to get his mind focused and tries to think back on the last thing he remembers.

He remembers the smell of coffee, the feeling of winter snow chilling his skin, the sound of a helicopter passing far away. He remembers Kaneki. He remembers Kaneki smiling. Kaneki laughing. Kaneki crying as he held Hide's body in a puddle of Hide's own blood.

Everything hits him at once and Hide bolts up. He regrets the action as soon as he's up because his side explodes with pain. Agonizing pain that leaves him breathless.

'Ah that's right I was injured and Kaneki...' the thought trails off, the pain making it hard to think.

Hide clutches his side; he's surprised to feel some sort of gauze covering his injury. When the pain subsides and Hide can finally breath again, he takes his hand away and looks down. His eyes have adjusted to the darkness and Hide is able to make out that his side is covered in bandages and that he's been patched up.

"wha-" the words feel heavy on his tongue and come out scratchy like his vocal cords haven’t been used in a while.

Hide looks up again and he notices that he's in a hospital room from what he can make out in the darkness.

' _Why am I here_?' Hide is confused. He remembers being at Anteiku with Kaneki. How did he end up in a hospital? He certainly was in no condition to make it to one on his own, and Hide remembers Kaneki being pretty injured too. There was no way they could have made it to a hospital even if Kaneki could carry him with all the CCG around.

Hide feels lost feeling so confused, usually he always has an idea about what's going on around him. Not knowing leaves him empty. Hide shakes his head and looks around again. He has no idea what time it is only that's its night out and he wonders how much time has passed since the incident at Anteiku. The other thing he notices is that he's alone in the room.

' _Where's Kaneki_?' Is Hide's next thought.

When Hide looks around and doesn't see Kaneki anywhere panic grips his heart like a vice. He thinks of the worst situation first that someone from the CCG found them and took out Kaneki while he was injured and took him away to a hospital leaving Kaneki alone to die.

'No' Hide clutches the sheets that pool around his legs, his heart squeezes in pain, pain that hurts ten times more then the wound on his side. That couldn't have happened not after finally finding Kaneki again. It couldn't. He had finally found his best friend after so many months, finally saw him again.

Even though he had looked different then before with the white hair and the somber look on his face, it was still Kaneki. The Kaneki he would do anything for, even bleed to death for. Hide didn't mind that because seeing Kaneki smile and laugh again was worth it. He was always worth it.

_'And now he's nowhere in sight_.' Hide wants to cry. He was so close but he had screwed up. Just like the times before, back when he couldn't tell Kaneki the truth, when he couldn't stop Kaneki from leaving.

It hurt. Hurt so much.

The sound of a window opening breaks Hide away from his depressing thoughts, from the pain in his heart.

He looks up and his breath catches in his throat.

A person steps through the window gently landing on the floor inside of Hide's room. The moonlight catches their head illuminating their white locks of hair. It’s Kaneki.

"Kaneki," Hide says the name with a shaking voice. He is so overcome with relief that it feels like a giant weight has been lifted from his heart. He can breathe again cause Kaneki is here. Kaneki is safe.

Kaneki gives Hide a small smile, one that doesn't reach his eyes. Even though the room is dark Hide can tell that Kaneki looks exhausted, it's evident in the way his shoulders drop down, in the way his body looks like it could collapse any moment. 

Kaneki doesn't move from his spot near the door, he just stands there staring at Hide with an unreadable look on his face. Hide wants to reach out and touch Kaneki, pull him to his side but then he remembers the last time he touched Kaneki and decides that he needs to know what happened.

“Kaneki what happened? How did I end up here?” Hide says his voice coming out hoarse but hearable. “I remember Anteiku and talking and-“ and collapsing to the ground after slipping on my own blood.

The rest of the sentence is left hanging in the air, but Kaneki understands what Hide doesn’t say because his face twists into a grimace like just thinking about it causes immense pain.

“Touka” is Kaneki’s first word and Hide is left confused. ‘ _Touka-chan_?’ the cute girl that worked with Kaneki, the one who was also a ghoul, the one who was almost as close to Kaneki as he was; what did she have to do with him being in a hospital?

Before Hide can question Kaneki, the half-ghoul continues his explanation.

“Touka came to Anteiku, apparently she came to help like I did, she saw us and helped me take you to a hospital...”

“Oh,” Hide doesn’t know what to think. He guesses that he should thank the heavens for allowing him to be so lucky. He honestly thought he was going to die back there, back when he was bleeding in Kaneki's arms.

“Where is she?” Hide asks. He wants to ask how they managed to carry him back with Kaneki’s own bad injury but then remembers all the dead bodies of the CCG lying around in the area and discards the thought.

“She’s hiding, apparently with everything that went down,  Touka and the remaining people from Anteiku have to find new lives somewhere else, the remaining people who are still alive…”Kaneki stops talking and looks down his hands clenching into tight fists.

Hide’s heart aches for him, he can’t imagine the pain Kaneki must be feeling right now. That place was his haven, those people were his precious friends. Hide knows that one of the major reasons Kaneki left was to protect them. In the end all his effort was wasted and Hide could do nothing to help him. Instead he caused more trouble.

“Kaneki none of this is your fault.” Hide says wanting to erase the pain he knows is on Kaneki’s face. He desperately wants to bring back that smile he saw before everything went black, back when Kaneki was laughing. 

“Didn’t I say not to take everything on by yourself, I’m here for you” Those words cause Kaneki to tense up and Hide wonders if he said something wrong. 

Kaneki mumbles something under his breath something Hide can’t make out. When Kaneki looks back up a tortured look is on his face. It causes Hide to stop breathing for a moment and his heart to skip a beat. Nothing is said between them for a while, the only sounds coming from Hide’s heart monitor. They stare at each other and finally Kaneki speaks in a voice loud enough for Hide to hear.

“Here for me?” Kaneki's words come out bitter and he sounds so hurt so pained, that it causes Hide to tense up and his heart to squeeze at the sound.

"How can you say that after-"

Kaneki stops talking and takes a deep breath closing his eyes. When he opens them they shake with an emotion Hide can't quite decipher. Kaneki speaks again and his voice comes out choked.

"Why?" Kaneki sounds so broken and Hide’s heart shatters even more. 

“Why what?” Hide says forcing out a small laugh. He’s trying to lighten whatever tense atmosphere fell around them but the effort it lost cause Kaneki still has that ‘ _look_ ’ on his face. That pained tortured look that breaks Hide to pieces. Kaneki doesn’t say anything and Hide continues.

“Don’t you remember our talk at Anteiku Kaneki I told you-“ 

“No not that-” Kaneki’s voice is sharp and it cuts off Hide’s words. It surprises Hide and makes his mouth clamp shut. Kaneki takes another deep breath, this one shaky, its like he's doing his best to get whatever he needs to say out.

“Why did you” another breath. “Why did you let yourself get so hurt…why didn’t you get help earlier…why did you go through all that…let yourself bleed out like that…”

Kaneki looks at him his eyes pleading in the darkness for an answer and Hide has one.

“I wanted to see you.” Is all Hide can say because really that is the only reason he can give behind his actions. During that whole time when Hide was bleeding out, when he was looking for Kaneki struggling not to collapse in the snow his only thoughts had been ‘I need to see Kaneki,' ‘I need to find him,' ‘I need to talk to him one more time’.

A shake goes through Kaneki’s whole body and his eyes widen like he can’t really believe what Hide said.

“Just to see me,” Kaneki’s voice mirrors his expression, its full of disbelief.  “Hide you nearly died, “ Kaneki shakes his head. “they nearly lost you two times in the ER, you were so close…so close….”

Kaneki stops talking and his body continues to shake holding in an emotion he wants to desperately let out but can’t bring himself to.

“Just to see me” Kaneki rubs his eyes. “….are you an idiot”

Hide swallows and gives out a shaky lopsided smile.

“Yeah…yeah I guess I am” and he was, he was really an idiot. A big one. “Kaneki I would do anything for you.”

Kaneki looks at him his eyes shining in the darkness especially his ghoul-eye, which had activated sometime during their conversation. It’s beautiful. Everything about Kaneki is.

“Kaneki I-“ This time Hide is the one who has a hard time getting the words out. “Those times I didn’t see you were tortuous, I-I wanted to see you so bad, and there was no way I was going to let a little wound keep me from finding you. “

“A little wound that nearly got you killed“ Kaneki cuts in and Hide laughs cause yeah ignoring that wound did make him pay a huge price, but in the end it was worth it cause he saw Kaneki.

“Like I said I would do anything for you…” Hide says again cause it’s true.

“Hide…” Is all Kaneki can say.

“But in the end I couldn’t really do anything.” Hide continues, the words taste awful in his mouth and he hates saying them. Hide tightens his hand around the hospital sheets and looks down at his side, the one that was injured, a bitter smile making it’s way on his face.

“I couldn’t help get you home.” He was useless in the end. He hated it.

He tried so hard. So hard to get Kaneki away from there, to someplace safe. Tried so hard to return back to those days they used to have. But in the end he failed. He ended up in the hospital and Kaneki ended up far away from any place he could call home.

The room get’s engulfed in silence again. Hide doesn't want to look up to see what kind of expression is on Kaneki's face but he forces himself to anyway. There’s no pained and heart-wrenching look this time instead the expression is soft and gentle. Kaneki almost looks like the Kaneki from before everything changed, went downhill.

“That’s not true,” Kaneki finally says his voice just a whisper, but Hide hears. “You did bring me home,”

Hide looks at him in confusion and Kaneki’s lips finally pull into that small smile Hide had seen before in Anteiku when he got Kaneki to laugh again. 

“Hide,” Kaneki’s smile causes Hide’s heart to race and his body to fill with warmth. “Where ever you are is home, you’re…you’re my home.”

Those words shake Hide to the core. Hide wants to cry and he nearly does but instead he sucks it up and reaches his hand out, beckoning for Kaneki to come to his side. He wants to touch him, no he needs to touch him.

Kaneki looks hesitant at first but takes a step foreword and then another until he is right next to Hide’s bed. He places his hand in Hide’s and Hide squeezes it tight. Kaneki squeezes back.

“Well, then I guess I should say welcome home,” Hide laughs as the tears he tried to hold in slip down his cheeks.

“Yeah,” Kaneki replies and he cries too, slow tears that trickle down his face. "I'm home."

They both smile at each other; real smiles full of warmth and happiness. Hide finally feels at peace, like everything will be okay.

They continue to stare each other and as Hide takes Kaneki in, this poor broken boy who is just starting to put his pieces back together, he can’t stand not pulling him close. So he does.

Hide tugs Kaneki foreword catching the half-ghoul off guard and causing the boy to fall and land on top of him. Hide makes a choked noise as pain flares up in his side, but he refuses to let go of Kaneki now that he finally has him close. Screw the pain, he can ignore it, just like he did before. 

“Hide don’t you’re hurt,” Kaneki says trying to carefully push himself up but Hide just squeezes Kaneki tighter. “Hide let me go, your going to make your injury worse.”

“Nope,” Hide says. He buries his face in Kaneki’s head not caring that he’s probably getting snot and tears in his best friend’s hair. He missed this, missed holding Kaneki and being close to him.

After a while Kaneki stops struggling and just lets out a quiet sigh. He wraps his arms around Hide and pulls him close trying to be as gentle as possible.

“You’re so reckless,” Kaneki’s tries to sound mad but fails. Instead he ends up smiling and burying his face in Hide’s shoulder, taking in a shaky breath. Inhaling Hide's scent.

Hide laughs a loud boisterous laugh, happy that Kaneki is finally, finally with him again.

 

* * *

 

 

Hide’s not sure how much time has passed, but he couldn't care less.

He glances to his side at Kaneki who is laying next to him on the small hospital bed. It’s a tight fit but they both manage. Hide's eyes scan Kaneki from top to bottom taking him in, engraving Kaneki’s presence in his mind.

Kaneki’s eyes are closed and he seems to be in deep thought. Hide gives the hand he’s holding a tight squeeze trying to catch Kaneki’s attention. Kaneki opens his eyes and turns to Hide a soft smile on his face, Hide fills up with warmth all over again, and it spreads all the way down to his toes. He loves this feeling. 

“What are you thinking about?” Hide whispers, for some reason he doesn’t want to speak loudly, he doesn’t want to break this wonderful mood that has fallen over them.

Kaneki’s eyes shift towards the ceiling. He lightly traces his thumb against Hide’s skin and Hide relishes in the feeling. Kaneki doesn’t speak for a while and Hide doesn’t pressure Kaneki to talk because he knows he will eventually.

And he does.

“I’m thinking about what I am going to do next,” Kaneki’s voice comes out in a whisper just like Hide’s did. “Where I am going to go…” 

Kaneki’s eyes glaze over and his thumb stops its movement against Hide’s hand. Hide tightens his grip just a little.

“I can’t stay here” Kaneki continues “This place is no longer safe and I can’t stay with Touka or the others either…I would just bring trouble…I-I”

Kaneki stops and closes his eyes.

“I need to get far away from here…”

Hide looks up at the ceiling. He can feel Kaneki’s hand tense in his, like Kaneki’s anticipating Hide’s next words and is afraid. Hide doesn’t think about what to say He already knows how he is going to respond if Kaneki said something like this. He was prepared with this answer when he found Kaneki bleeding in the snow unconscious.

“Where ever you go, I’m going with you,” Hide says, voice full of conviction.

“I had a feeling you’d say that…”Kaneki whispers under his breathe. He sits up on his elbows and stares down at Hide catching his eyes.

“Hide you can’t come,” Kaneki replies, Hide stares back at him unwavering. Kaneki just sighs.

“Hide you can’t throw everything away, you still have to go to college, you have a life ahead of you, you-“

“Kaneki I was ready to throw everything away when I chose to save you, a ghoul, something that is, let me remind you against the law, “ Hide cuts Kaneki off, he wasn’t going to let Kaneki win this one, not ever.

“I was ready to run away with you, to abandon everything.” And he was. He truly was.

Kaneki’s breath catches in his throat, he opens his mouth then closes it. He looks like he’s having an internal struggle inside of him. Finally Kaneki shakes his head the struggle inside made up.

“Hide…” He stops then continues. “Hide you can’t…being with me will be dangerous…if something like before happened….If you got hurt again…”

Kaneki closes his eyes and takes a deep breath his hand squeezing Hide’s tight. It shakes.

“I wouldn’t know what to do…I-I can’t lose you.”

Kaneki looks at him pain clearly in his eyes. Hide refuses to back down though and gives Kaneki a soft and reassuring smile.

“You won’t” Hide says the words like it’s a fact. “I promise you won’t, I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you won’t lose your home again,” _to make sure you won’t lose me_.

The last words are left unspoken but Kaneki understands. He looks at Hide with wide eyes his mouth a little agape.The expression looks out of place on his face and Hide wants to laugh so he does. When Kaneki hears the sound his expression changes and his face falls into something that resembles a pout.

“You can argue all you want,” Hide says. “But my answer will always be the same.”

Kaneki opens his mouth to speak but Hide cuts him off already knowing what he is going to say.

“And if you leave without me, you can bet your ass that I am going to chase after you, I’ll follow you where ever you go, Kaneki, I can promise you that.” He'd chase him to the ends of the earth if he had to.

Kaneki searches Hide expression and when he sees that Hide will not back down he falls back onto the hospital bed and gives a sigh of defeat.

“You’re unbelievable,” Kaneki mutters, Hide just smiles wider. After a moment Kaneki speaks again but in a voice so tiny Hide barely hears. “Why are you doing so much for me?”

Hide's smile grows gentle. Isn't it obvious? He thought Kaneki would figure it out, the answer was so clear, so evident in everything that Hide did for him, would do for him.

“It’s because I love you,” Hide says his voice full of affection.

Kaneki tenses for just a second almost as if Hide’s answer jolted him, like a spark of electricity went through his whole body. He turns his head to look at Hide and their eyes catch, so many emotions pass between them. Kaneki opens his mouth then closes it, finally he speaks, his voice soft.

“You’re an idiot.” 

“You already said that,” Hide pouts and Kaneki huffs out a laugh, one that causes Hide to tingle all over.

“That's cause It’s true, you are one,” Kaneki repeats a smile tugging at his face. “A big idiot.”

“That’s not the response I wanted to hear,” Hide says trying to sound sullen and failing.

“What did you want to hear?” Kaneki replies his voice teasing. Hide knows Kaneki is messing with him and he is so happy he is because it feels just like old times, back when life was less complicated and not filled with ghouls and the CCG .

“You know…”Hide trails off, cause he wants to hear Kaneki say the words. Hear how Kaneki feels.

Kaneki’s smile grows tender. Hide feels his heart squeeze, his breath stutter.

“I think you already know the answer.” Kaneki squeezes Hides hand further proving what Hide does indeed know but still…

“I want to hear it,” He needs to hear it, to hear Kaneki say the words Hide has longed for ages to hear.

Kaneki rolls his eyes but his smile remains in place. It’s beautiful and Hide loves it. Loves that little smile so much, more than anything.

“I love you Hide,” Kaneki’s voice is soft and full of so much emotion. So many tender feelings.

Hide explodes with warmth at Kaneki’s words. A million butterflies erupt in his stomach, in his heart. He feels giddy like he wants to jump up and down and squeal like a young girl. It’s such a lovely feeling one he knows won’t die down anytime soon.

Hide motions for Kaneki to come closer and Kaneki does, comes close enough to lay his forehead against Hide’s. They stare into each other’s eyes getting lost in the other.

Hide brings Kaneki’s hand up to his mouth and kisses it. He kisses each knuckle and whispers I love you over and over again. The whole time he keeps Kaneki’s gaze watches as Kaneki’s eyes shake as his mouth quivers. When Hide pulls Kaneki’s hand away from his lips Kaneki leans foreword and kisses him.

Though it’s barely just a touch of lips the kiss is everything Hide thought his first kiss with Kaneki would be like. It makes him explode with happiness, with warmth, with love. It’s wonderful. Nothing can ever compare to this feeling, this feeling of love he holds for this boy. 

When they pull away Hide knows he’s grinning like an idiot, but he can’t help it, he’s so happy. Kaneki’s just smiles back at him, this breathe-taking smile that’s full of so much tenderness. Hide feels like the luckiest man alive.

They stare at each other smiling like fools and it feels like hours before they pull their foreheads apart.

“I want to go to Alaska,” Hide says after a moment causing Kaneki to tilt his head in confusion. “We are getting out of here right? Well, I want to go to Alaska, I always wanted to see the northern lights.”

Kaneki shakes his head looking down at Hide fondly.

“I think it’s going to take us a while to get to Alaska,” Kaneki says pulling away, to lay back down. They are closer to one another then before and their fingers are interlocked, so much affection settles between them.

“Well, we have all the time in the world,” Hide replies, to be honest he doesn’t care where he went, as long as he was with Kaneki he knew everything would be okay.

“By the way you better tell Touka-chan where we’re going wherever that is,” Hide says as an afterthought. He remembers the look Touka had as she stared at Kaneki’s poster way back. It broke his heart.

“I will,” Kaneki answers. “I won’t make the same mistake of running off again without saying anything, I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

They both grow silent. From the window they can see the morning sun begin to peak from the distance casting the room in a soft glow.

Hide feels his stomach dropping, he knows Kaneki has to leave soon.

“I have to go,” Kaneki mumbles softly. He moves to get up and Hide has to hold himself back from pulling him down again. Kaneki looks at Hide catching his eye. They hold each other's gaze. “I’ll be back when they let you out, I promise.” 

Hide knows he will. He knows within every fiber of his being that Kaneki will always come back to him.

“Of course,” Hide says his voice light. “There’s no way you're going to leave your home behind again.”

Never again.

**Author's Note:**

> The ending is kind of cheesy but whatever. Forehead touches are my weakness, especially ones that involve Hide and Kaneki. 
> 
> Anyway Hide and Kaneki did somehow make it to Alaska but Hide hated it cause it was so cold but he got to see the northern lights in the end with Kaneki so the good out weighed the bad. They sent a post card to Touka and she put it with the rest of the post cards they send when they go to a new place. 
> 
> THE END. 
> 
> Oh and by the way I just made a new tumblr dedicated to Hide because I love him. Check it out when you have the chance. I mainly just reblog Hide related stuff and rant about him a lot and post some mediocre fan art I make of him. It's:
> 
> http://pure-precious-angel-hide.tumblr.com
> 
> THANKS FOR READING!!!


End file.
